Romeo and Juliet Poem
by Midnight-Armonia
Summary: This is a poem I had to write for English class. It is a rewrite of the Shakespeare play "Romeo and Juliet," which I really enjoyed. Please review and tell me what you thought and how I might be able to improve it.


A Poem of the Play _Romeo and Juliet_

In the fair town of Verona

Is where our story's set.

There were two feuding households

Montague and Capulet.

A fight outside private doors

Brought to surface the strong rivalry.

The Prince interfered—"If this happens once more,

You'll suffer the death penalty!"

At a Capulet party that night,

Which Romeo Montague attended,

There blossomed love at first sight

His affection for Rosaline ended.

Unfortunately, the girl he had seen

Was of the Capulets

Romeo soon learned from the Nurse

That the girl's name was Juliet.

He sneaked back into her garden

Juliet spoke from her balcony above

They planned to meet at Friar Laurence's cell

Where they would finalize their love.

The next day, after their secret marriage,

Another fight, filled with pain,

Broke out between the rival familes

And Romeo's friend had been slain.

In revenge, he went after the killer:

Tybalt, of the Capulets

Romeo won and down beat the sun

On Tybalt, whose death had been set.

Romeo, horrified, fled the scene

And Prince Escalus entered once more.

Romeo was banished, never to be seen again

Inside of Verona's gate doors.

There was a man named Count Paris

Who also loved the daughter of Capulet.

He went to Lord Capulet with the question

Could he marry his girl, Juliet?

Lord Capulet did agree

And Juliet was told the news.

Horrified and angry, she seethed—

"You can't make me! I won't! I refuse!"

Capulet was shocked and surprised

And to his daughter's room he came.

He proceeded to say, "You will marry Count Paris

Or never be in this house again!"

Dismayed and frightened, poor Juliet

Went to Friar Laurence for help.

He said to Juliet that if she would accept

He knew how she could fake her own death.

"Just take this potion," the Friar explained.

"It'll seem as if death's in the air.

However, you'll only be in a deep sleep

And when you wake, Romeo and I will be there."

Juliet thanked him and took the potion,

Lying to her dad,

"Please, father, I have repented my sins

I'll marry good Paris and be glad."

Delighted, Lord Capulet, to Juliet's dismay,

Decided to speed things up a bit.

He moved his daughter's wedding up one more day

Which could give the secret scheme quite a twist.

That evening, as Juliet lay in her bed,

With pale fingers she clutched the potion.

Thoughts of what might happen ran through her head,

But she hastily dismissed the fearful notions.

Juliet began to call for her Nurse,

But realized this must be done with no help.

She raised the trembling vial up to her lips

And drank it in one undeterred gulp.

The next day, the Nurse saw Juliet lying still in bed

And word spread fast through the city.

"Juliet, daughter of Lord Capulet, is dead!

Who ever would have thought such a pity?"

Balthazar, Romeo's faithful servant,

Had heard the woeful muse.

He rode to Romeo's new home

And told his master the terrible news.

Distraught and stricken with grief,

Romeo quickly made up his mind.

He got a poison from the apothecary

With Balthazar trailing behind.

Romeo traveled back to Verona

In the darkest hours of night.

He got to the Capulets' monument, and Paris was there—

The two of them got into a fight.

Paris was killed quite quickly

And Romeo proceeded inside.

He saw Juliet and fell to his knees,

Kissing his love one last time.

Clutching the vial and drinking the poison,

Romeo felt it coursing through his veins.

With a flourish, he fell back on the monument floor

Never to be seen alive again.

Friar Laurence entered the monument

Expecting Juliet to wake up.

However, when he came upon Romeo,

His gasp was short and abrupt.

Juliet woke, and the Friar did try

To get her to come back with him.

However, a strange noise outside

Sent him fleeing, but she chose to stay.

The girl let out a choked gasp

When she saw her love lying dead on the floor.

She bowed her head and knew at once what to do—

She would join her true love once more.

With trembling hands did Juliet stand

Tears streaming down her face

Romeo's dagger, which she held straight above her,

Was soon put in its place.

The Friar soon arrived with more people,

Prince Escalus and the two families

When they realized Romeo and Juliet were dead

Friar Laurence confessed it was he.

He told them the story of what happened,

And didn't leave anything out.

The two lovers' story, from beginning to end,

Was finally known without a doubt.

Prince Escalus announced that some would be pardoned

But still others would have to be punished.

Montague declared, waving his hand in the air,

That a statue of Juliet would be prominent.

And although the lovers' deaths brought plenty woe,

It brought the feuding families together.

The story of Juliet and her Romeo

Is a tale that deserves to be remembered.


End file.
